Apparatus for ice manufacture.



F. OPHULS.

APPARATUS FOR ICE MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. i915- 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented May 28,1918.

F. OPHULS.

APPARATUS FOR rcE MANUFACTURE.

Patented May 28, 191a 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. 1915- q Vvtvwoa surfaces.

rd all whomiz't concem:

rnnn orms, or naooxnm, new roan.

a'rraaaros For. Ion manutrac'rtmn.

- s aineation of Letters Patent. Patented May 28, 1 918.

7 Application filed November 4, 1915. Serial No. 69,523.

Be it known that I, FRED Orn'uLs,-a citi- P 11116- zen of .the UnitedStates, residing at 323 Lenox road, borou h of Brooklyn, city and Stateof New Yor have invented the following-described Improvements inApparatus for Ice Manufacture.

duced by causing duction to the place of refrigeration, the temperaturedifference maybe very greatly reduced and maintained low during thewhole process of freezing, with a coincident decrease in the timerequired for producing a cake of ice of commercial dimensions, and,

4 crating surface;

put than has heretofore been considered.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated, more or lessdiagrammatically, a form of: apparatus that is suitable for carryin onthe method, but it will be understoo and will be apparent from this de-Th inv nti id means f. manuscription, that the method is not dependentfacturing marketable ice from distilled or pon the partlcular form ofapparatus emraw water, particularly the latter, with ployed. greatereificiency than heretofore. To this end it involves the supercooling ofthe water I below 32 vF. under certain conditions, as.

hereinafter set forth.

According to existing methods, ice is pro- F 1g. 3, a sectlon of the,same on line it to buildup on one or IIIIIl-; more refrigeratingsurfaces entirely or Fig. 4, a section of the nozzle; and mainly by therefrigerating effect of such In these methods the disadvantage ispresent that the rate at whichthe ice forms decreases rapidly, under aconstant refrigerating intensity, as its thickness increases, for theheat to be extracted from the water to be frozen must pass through icealready deposited on the refrigerating surfaces, and this layer of ice,on account of its poor heat conductivity, acts as an ever increasingresistance to the transfer of heat. The utilization of such methods,therefore, involves a temperature difierence between the water not yetfrozen and the refrigerating surface, which is relatively high andcorrespondingly expensive to maintain. Notwithstanding that the water isforecooled, in some cases, to near the freezing point, the necessarytemperature difference is still Figure 1 illustrates the principalelements and their connection, partly in section; p

Fig. 2, a side or top view of the refrig- Fig. 5, a modified form ofapparatus.

In these drawings, the source of, water to be frozen is represented by atank 1, in which a constant waterlevel is maintained by a ball floatvalve controlling the supplypipe 2, or otherwise. The tank is coveredwith a heat-insulating material, as indicated, and the Water circulatesthrough the same, passing out through a similarly insulated pipe 3, tothe supercooler. The latter consists of a receptacle 4:, cylindrical inthe present case and surrounded by a jacket chamber 5, through whichbrine or ammonia, or other refrigerating medium or agent circulates. Thepipes for the circulation of the refrigerant are indicated at 6, and maybe assumed to be part of any suitable refrigerating apparatus notnecessary to be described. The interior of the supercooler high. I havediscovered that by supercoolis provided with a centrally locatedpartiing' the water to be frozen prior to its intro tion or draft-pipe7, and a propeller on the end of the shaft 8 of'an electric motor, re-

volves within this pipe creating a circulation of the water through andaround the same and within the chamber 4. The latter is closed at topand bottom, preferably by dome-shaped end plates, as indicated, andfurther, that the total energy required for the propeller -'shaft passesto the. exter1or v supercooling the water and cooling the rethrough apacking gland 111 One end plate.

frigerating surface is less than would be The circulation of the waterkee otherwise required to produce the same remotion, wlnle its heat isbeing-e. sult by any existing method. In actual the surroundingrefrigerating 3acket, so that practice of this new method, I have sucitmay cool to a po nt below F. and a ceeded in producing clear marketableice of proachin 28 F.,w1thout freezing and wit commercial size with lesstotal energy outout the a erence or formation of 108 on the s itincominterior parts of the cooler chamber. The Water thus supercooledlion's from the chamber l, through a pipe 9, to a discharge noztie it),whence it is discharged upon the refrigerated surface on which the iceis to he formed,

The pipe 9 is constituted in part of ruh-. her hose, although it mighthe of other material, but since, in this town, the nozzle is adapted tohe moved, it is preferably flexible to accommodate the movement. lheinterior of the pipe, as Well as of the chamber, is made free of sharpinterior projections, or corn rs, all of the latter being carefullyrounded and also polished. The nozzle itselr" is also smoothly polishedon its interior and delivers a smooth-surfaced stream or jet of thesupercooled Water. These precautions provide against the prematureformation ice or ice crystals which, it once started,

cause some of the Water in the pipe as Well as in the cooler, llashinstantaneously into ice or slush. By avoiding conditions whichstimulate crystallization, the supercooling may he safely carried wellbelow 32 F, Without danger of flashing: Each apparatus Will be found,however, to have its ovvn critical temperature at which iiashin occurs,

and which must he first ascertained "for results. Although made of thesome mat-erial and operated under the same con itions, the criticaltemperature or different coolers will vary somewhat, but with properattention to the considerations herein explained, they can be operatedto cool the water below the freezing point Without crystallisation The"Walls of the superccoler chainher he made of rolled sheet-iron,

The refrigerating surface may he variously related to the nozzle and isdesirably so located that the supercooled Water flow over it or over theice-layer forming thereon in about the plane of the surface or layeritself, so that it will thereover Without splashing or spattering.Any'rneans of applying the Water to the surface Without undue commotionis satisi'ac tory. As the surface is necessarily oi consideralole extentas compared to the diameter of the nozzle, the latter is kept in a slowoscillating motion, in or adjacent to.

the said plane, so as to distribute the "Water over the Whole surface.lfhe mechanical ap; pliance for imparting the oscillation is indicatedin the drawing as comprising pivoted frame 11, op eratedby areciprocating ro 12, and carrying a'ratchet vvheel ligand traversescrew-1e. The-nozzle 10 is mounted in a slideway at the end of the frameand connected to the screw 14, for which the ratchet Whe l forms thenut, and a fined pawl 15 serves as the operating means for rotating theWheel. On each reciprocation of the trance the L'sLu v v f i l'atingsystem h move smoothly Wheel encounters the pawl,

two sides approximating the dimensions er a commercial ice cake, and thejacket 1'? thereof is heat-insulated. Brine or a retrig-crating agentmay be circulated through the jacket and may hederived from the samesupplies the cooler.

'lhe supercooled Water flowing over the relrigeretino. surface formsimmediately into ice With a minimum transfer of heat from the former tothe'latter, as the effect of the supercoolin 'v The surplus water (at 32l flows oil the plate into a hasin provided for the purpose, from whichit is drawn through an insulated pipe 18, by a pump 19 and returnedthrough an insulated pipe 20 to the supply tank 1. The returned Watermay contain more or less ice crystals suspended therein, and it isnecessary to guard against thepassage of the same to the supercooler.They are therefore separated or collected in the supply tank, which isprovided with a number or" alternately arranged or staggered shelves orpartitions 21, for the purpose. These produce suficient' stagnation ofmotion in the tank to permitthe crystals torise and float on thesurface, While only pure Water Without crystals passes throu h theperforations and into the 1 pipe 3, leading to the cooler. It isimportant that every crystal be excluded from the supercooler, inasmuchas the presence of a single crystal therein will flash the Whole massinto a mixture of ice crystals and water and obstruct the production ofclear ice accordhigly llprefer to use ammonia ant circulating directlythrough the jacket space 17, and to adjust the flow thereof to maintain'a temperature of the refrigerat= ing surface will, of about 28?, Thus 1sa consideraloly higher temperature'than isordinarily used in making ice,but is suiiicient in V the nevv'process by reason of the supercooling ofthe Water which, being so near to the ice condition, requires but amoderate freezingte mperatureto efie'ct the change of state, As the iceis louilt up on the refrigerating surface mainly by the deposit obtainedloy the change of state of the supercooled Water, it follows that theinsulating qualities of he increasing layer of ice are of as thereh'igerdescribed may be substituted by other means for 'supercoolingthe water, and in Fig. '5 I have illustrated an alternate form.' Herethe supply tank 1 is the same as already described and the clear watertherefrom enters a brineor ammonia-jacketed coil, in

which it is supercooled. This coil consists of several limbs or sectionsof pipe22, connected in series relation by long-radius elbows andsurrounded by outer pipe sections 23, through which the brine or ammoniaflows from a supply pipe 24, which is at the opposite end of the coilfrom the water entrance' The course of the brine or ammonia, excludesthe elbow connections, which are heavily protected by insulation, Theconstruction will be plain from the figure. Within the water pipes aspiral partition 25, extending from end to end of each limb, serves tomix the water in passing and ,insure that all parts of it shall behomogeneously cooled without ice formation. The

water supercooledvin this form of cooler passes by discharge pipe 26into a pocket 27 adjacent oneend of the refrigerating surface 16 andaccumulating therein flows over the said surface becoming converted intoice under the economic conditions already explained. It will be notedthat the pocket 27 avoids the necessity of a traversing and oscillatingdischarge nozzle, the refrigerating surface in this case being horizontal, in a transverse sense. The surplus 'water therefrom flows into acatch basin as before, from which it is returned to the supply tank,completing the water circulatlon.

In both forms of supercooler the critical point at which flashing islikely to occur, is first determined by experiment, and thereafter theoperation of the refrgerating apparatus of such cooler is set oradjusted, other conditions remaining constant, to keep the :water justabove such pointand less than the normal freezingpoint, and so long asthe apparatus is designed for constantly bringing fresh portions ofwater againstthe refrigerated wall of the cooler, the'fiash point may bekept at the desired low point. It is to be understood that the apparatusis provided withthe necessary adjustment and shut-ofi' devices whereneeded.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the principle of theinvention may be utilized in apparatus of widely different character,and I wish to emphasize that there is no intention of limiting thispatent to an ice-cake thereon.

2. Ice-making apparatus, comprising a supercooler capable of cooling thewater below 32 F. and having means for keeping the water in commotion soas to prevent 1ts freezing, a support affording a congealing surface,and means for flowing the supercooled water in contact with said surfaceand the ice-cake buildingthereon.

3. Apparatus for making ice, comprisinga supercoolenan ice-cake rmingsup ort, means whereby the supercooled water. rom the supercooler passesupon or over the sur-' face of said support, and means for returning theexcess Water to the supercooler free of ice crystals.

4:. Apparatus for making ice, comprising f a supercooler adapted to coolwater below 32 F. without freezing, a refrigerated surface maintained atless than 32 F., means for passing the water over such surface to formice thereon, means forreturning the excess water to the cooler, and adevice for preventing the passage of ice crystals. to the cooler.

5. Apparatus for making ice, comprising a cooler for the water, acongealing surface and a moving nozzle whereby such water is caused toflow over the said surface.

6. Apparatus for making ice, comprising a cooler for the water, acongealing surface, a nozzle for discharging the water upon the surface,and means for traversing the nozzle with the advancing thickness of theice layer. 1 o I 7. Apparatus formaking ice, comprising a congealingsurface, a nozzle for dischargdirect a stream of water substantiallyparal-' lel with and over the surface,and means, for traversing thenozzle with the advancing thickness of the ice layer.

9. Apparatus for making ice, comprising a circulating system for'water.to be frozen including a supercooler therefor, a refrigerated surfacereceiving the supercooled water and on which it is converted into ice,and a separator to prevent the passage of

